Fig, ham and arugula pizza

Okay, you caught me in the act: Who's up for a pizza for dinner? I knew you would all sign up! I don't think I know anyone who doesn't like pizza, and if there is someone it's because they haven't tried this fig, ham and arugula pizza. A perfect 10 combo! And with homemade dough, of course.

Don't come at me with laziness and the usual 'it won't turn out well' and all that— I promise this dough is a dream to work with and it's not difficult to knead. Besides, you don't know how relaxing it is to spend some time kneading surrounded by flour!

Oh! Are you the lucky owner of a KitchenAid? Even better! Because then all you have to do is put the ingredients in the bowl and let it knead for you. Friend, your excuses are running out! And you'll see, once you make your first homemade pizza you'll wonder why you didn't make it sooner. And above all, people at home will ask you about it…

For the filling today I bring you this suggestion, which I think is delicious, but of course you can adapt it to your taste, although I encourage you to give it a try now that figs are in season, and then tell me what you think.

And before I leave you with the recipe I'll give you another tip: if you can bake the pizza on a perforated base, like this one from Le Creuset, or a ceramic type, like this one from Emile Henry, or even on the base of the Emile Henry ceramic oven as I did this time, don't hesitate to do it, since the pizza base becomes much crispier… and absolutely delicious.

KitchenAid Artisan food processor, Bérard flour scoop, Pallarès carbon steel knife, Caractère Revol porcelain plate and Emile Henry ceramic oven baking tray

INGREDIENTS

For the pizza dough (for one large pizza or two medium):

• 500 g strong flour
• 250 ml warm water
• 30 ml olive oil
• 20 g fresh baker's yeast or 7 g dry baker's yeast
• 10 g salt

For the pizza topping:

• 300 g tomato sauce
• 300 g grated or fresh mozzarella
• Oregano
• 5 slices serrano ham
• 6 or 7 figs
• Arugula leaves

Preparation

1. If we are going to prepare the dough in the Kitchen Aid we start by putting the flour, water, olive oil and baker's yeast in the bowl (if we're using fresh yeast we crumble it with our fingers before adding it).
2. Attach the paddle and mix the ingredients on speed 2 for a couple of minutes.
3. After this time, and once we see the ingredients are well combined, we change the paddle for the dough hook and knead until we obtain a smooth, elastic dough.
4. If kneading by hand, we begin by making a volcano of flour on the countertop and put the yeast, the oil, the yeast and the water in the central hollow and, using a dough scraper, we mix the ingredients until they are well combined. At that moment we begin kneading by hand, folding and stretching the dough, for about 10 minutes, until we obtain a smooth, elastic dough.
5. In both cases, once the dough is ready, shape it into a ball and place it in a slightly greased bowl. Cover with cling film brushed with oil and let rise in a warm place away from drafts for about 2 hours, until it has doubled its original volume.
6. When the dough has doubled in volume take it out of the bowl and remove the gas by pressing gently with your fingers.
7. Preheat the oven to 240° or 250°.
8. With this amount of dough we can prepare one large pizza or two medium ones. If we are going to prepare two pizzas, using a very sharp knife divide the dough into two parts and keep the one you're not using covered with a cloth so it doesn't dry out.
9. Next roll out the dough, either with your hands or using a rolling pin, and place it on the tray you will bake it on which you have previously greased or sprinkled with semolina or flour so the dough doesn't stick to the tray.
10. Place the dough on the pizza tray and then cover with tomato sauce, mozzarella and oregano and bake in the middle position for 20-25 minutes.
11. After this time remove the pizza from the oven and top it with the figs sliced, the torn serrano ham slices and the arugula leaves.

Emile Henry ceramic oven, Le Creuset ceramic ramekin, Pallarès carbon steel knife, Caractère Revol porcelain plate

I don't know about you, but I'm getting a huge pizza craving, so I'm getting to work right now! Finding a good movie to go with my pizza, I'm afraid, is going to be much harder…